Chapter 9: The fact that mommy cooks special meals for you must not be known

She knew what they wanted to say, but she was justified.

Taking something without asking is stealing; Li Hua and the others were the ones who took without asking; this was her way of fighting back.

The children nodded in agreement.

Lu Mingzhu snorted. “Yes, Grandpa and Grandma are bad! They took most of Dad’s salary and didn’t give us food.  These things should be ours.”

“These gold necklaces! Mom wanted to get us some, but Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t let her!  Aunt Chunhua and Aunt Xiujuan always showed them off to us. They’re going to be furious!”

Lu Siyuan tiptoed to look at the necklaces in the dowry box. They were shiny and beautiful.

The children darted around, then returned to hug Su Yuanyuan’s legs, their eyes shining.  They said in unison, “Mom, you’re amazing!”

“Now we can cook our own food and not worry about Grandpa not leaving any for us!”

Once, Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu went to buy medicine for Su Yuanyuan.  They were slow, returning late, and the Lus had eaten all the food, leaving nothing for the children.

The original owner tried to cook for them and was scolded by Li Hua.

Thinking of the original owner and the children’s past suffering, Su Yuanyuan felt a pang of sadness.

“Oh! Right, let’s go to the kitchen!”

She had been showing them the house and hadn’t taken them to the kitchen yet.

…

Standing before a large, cold cabinet, the children exclaimed, “Wow!”

“What’s this?”

“This is a refrigerator. It keeps food fresh, so it doesn’t spoil quickly. You can put fruit in here, and it will be cold when you take it out. You can even make popsicles!”

“Amazing!” Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu were wide-eyed.

“This is an oven, this is a microwave, and this is a dishwasher.  There are many interesting things.  I’ll teach you how to use them later.” Su Yuanyuan gave a brief overview of the kitchen appliances.

The food Su Yuanyuan had made in her space was still there; it didn’t need refrigeration and stayed at a comfortable temperature neither cold nor hot very convenient.

Su Yuanyuan took a bun and a meat bun, splitting them between the children.

She also took milk from the refrigerator and warmed each of them a small cup.

They’d never had milk before; it was expensive! They had only seen their uncles buy it for their brothers during the New Year.  They had been so envious!

“Eat slowly, don’t rush.  We’ll have more delicious food later. You can eat whatever you want.”

Su Yuanyuan said this to the children, but also to herself.

She would take her children away from this place and never let them go hungry again!

She only gave Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu a little food, not too much.

They had never had enough to eat under the Lus’ care.  Eating too much or too much greasy food would upset their stomachs.  Surprisingly, the children didn’t ask why they couldn’t eat more.

They were very well-behaved, always listening to Su Yuanyuan.

Such good children and such a good mother deserved a better ending.

After the children finished eating, Su Yuanyuan explained the space to them.

“This place is Mom’s special place.  No one can come in without Mom’s permission. You can call it the space. This big house is our home, our real home.”

The space was absolutely safe.

Su Yuanyuan explained the space’s special features and took them to wash their hands.

When the faucet automatically turned on as they approached the sink, the children gasped again.

Su Yuanyuan chuckled.

“We can sleep here every night. We won’t have to sleep on the cold kang bed anymore.”

Their room had a kang, but Old Man Lu was stingy with firewood; the kang was only warm for the first half of the night, becoming cold later.

The children had fallen ill several times.  The original owner had to gather firewood from the mountains, working very hard.

Winter was the most dreaded season for them.

Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu exchanged glances, holding Su Yuanyuan’s hands.  They timidly asked, “Mom, can we stay here and not go out?”

They didn’t fully understand the space’s special nature, but they understood that no one could enter without her permission.  Staying here meant no one could bully them.

They disliked their grandparents and uncles; they were all mean.

Su Yuanyuan wished she could keep them in the space forever.

Their life outside was difficult; their house leaked during rain and was freezing cold in winter.

Sadly, Su Yuanyuan shook her head. “No, there’s a time limit. We can only stay here for half a day. After twelve hours, we’ll be sent out.”

Fortunately, they could stay for a considerable time.

“We can’t stay here forever, but we can sleep here every night. No mosquitoes, no bugs. We can use the rest of the time during the day, okay?”

Su Yuanyuan patiently explained.

She couldn’t have children in her previous life, perhaps why she loved children so much.  She knew raising children wasn’t easy, but these two were angels well-behaved and not troublesome.

Lu Siyuan and Lu Mingzhu, being twins, even nodded in unison.

They softly agreed, “Okay, we’ll listen to Mom.”

Su Yuanyuan gave them some unsalted wheat crackers.  After they finished, she took them out of the space.

As soon as they left the space, they heard Li Hua cursing in the yard.

She scolded her eldest daughter-in-law for being useless, her second daughter-in-law for being incompetent, and her daughter-in-law for being sickly.

She scolded everyone except herself.

Su Yuanyuan looked at her children, kneeling down and speaking seriously.

“You can’t let anyone know about our secret meals. When you go out, act hungry. You must act convincingly! Otherwise, we’re finished!”

Su Yuanyuan dramatically mimed slitting her throat.